After years in legal and financial limbo, one of the most acclaimed Detroit music films appears ready to see the light of day.

"MC5: A True Testimonial," which started production in the '90s and made a brief run on the festival circuit in 2003, was held back from wider release amid licensing and copyright disputes.

But is the documentary at last on the way? The evidence is piling up: Today, a Facebook account tied to the film posted a tantalizing message — "Stay tuned" — accompanied by an old Chicago Reader headline about the stymied project: "The MC5 Movie You May Never See."

It follows a post in January from a Twitter account in the film's name, simply displaying a bundle of wrapped movie posters.

And at January's Art House Convergence, an industry event, movie distributor Submarine Entertainment was disseminating placards touting the film.

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A placard celebrating "MC5: A True Testimonial" was disseminated in January by film distributor Submarine Entertainment.(Photo: Detroit Free Press)

The latest tease comes on a busy day of MC5 news, with the announcement of an upcoming tour by guitarist Wayne Kramer and a band billed as MC50, who will celebrate "Kick Out the Jams" and close with an Oct. 27 show at the Fillmore Detroit. Kramer also revealed a memoir, "The Hard Stuff," to be published Aug. 14.

"True Testimonial" is the handiwork of Chicago directors Dave Thomas and Laurel Legler, who received rave reviews for their colorful chronicling of the MC5's loud and controversial time on the rock scene.

In 2003, the film screened a single night in Detroit and at several prestige festivals, but a planned DVD deal with Sony fell through because of a song-licensing dispute: Kramer sued Thomas and Legler over the inclusion of the 1971 song "Poison" in the film. He lost the suit in 2007 — theoretically clearing a path for the film's release — but funds to pay the song-licensing fees then became the holdup.

"A True Testimonial" isn't the only Detroit-music film that's been delayed because of legal spats: The Sydney Pollack-directed "Amazing Grace," which captures Aretha Franklin's recording of the same-named gospel album in 1972, has been stymied in court for several years by the Queen of Soul.